BLOOMINGTON -- The most successful coaching tenure in Indiana baseball history has ended.

Tracy Smith officially became Arizona State's head coach Tuesday. Smith guided IU to three NCAA tournaments, the Big Ten's first national seed and the program's first College World Series appearance.

"This was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever faced," Smith said in a news release from IU. "The truth of the matter is, at this stage of my life, I am ready for a new challenge. Indiana is a part of who I am and always will be."

A source said Indiana made a late play to keep Smith, who was making about $200,000 in base salary with several bonuses pushing his pay significantly higher. The prestige of the Arizona State program proved a deciding factor, however.

Hired in 2005, Smith spent three years rebuilding a program he helped to an NCAA tournament berth as an assistant nine years earlier. In 2009, the Hoosiers won the Big Ten tournament and secured an automatic berth in the NCAA field, falling out with two losses in the regional round.

His greatest success came the past two seasons, when the Hoosiers won a total of 93 games and four combined Big Ten titles (two regular season and two tournament). IU hosted an NCAA regional for the first time in 2013, when it became the Big Ten's first College world Series team since 1984. The Hoosiers secured the Big Ten's first national seed this season, before crashing out of the postseason at the hands of Stanford.

Smith was 287-237 in nine seasons at Indiana. His overall DivisionI record is 604-457-1, including nine seasons at Miami (Ohio).

Arizona State is not the first program to come calling for Smith — Ohio State made him its No.1 target in 2010, and Maryland expressed serious interest in hiring him as well.

But the Pac-12 program is the most prestigious team known to have approached Smith about its job.

The Sun Devils have won five national titles and are considered one of the nation's most storied programs. Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia are among its alumni.

Smith replaces Tim Esmay, who was forced to resign with one year left on his contract at Arizona State. Smith's contract terms at ASU were not immediately available.

Smith has had success recruiting in the West, including landing pitchers Joey DeNato of San Diego and Aaron Slegers of Scottsdale, Ariz. Slegers was 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 2013, while DeNato went 23-3 over the past two seasons.

Smith leaves Indiana in a far better state than he found it, with some of the Big Ten's best facilities and a roster rich with pitching talent. The program also has much more infrastructural support, including added assistant coaching positions and much better training and medical facilities, than it did when Smith arrived.

"Tracy's vision for baseball at Indiana came to fruition with the completion of Bart Kaufman Field, standing-room-only attendance, three Big Ten championships, three NCAA berths and a trip to the College World Series," IU athletic director Fred Glass said in the release. "His leadership and dedication to building a program the right way was obviously not lost on the college baseball community. We will all miss his immense talent and knack for leadership. As his friend, I will also greatly miss just having him around.

"We will begin a diligent and thorough search for the next leader of the IU baseball program and believe that with the program's recent success and the substantial investments we have — and will continue — to make in it, including new facilities, this is one of the most attractive openings in the country."

Whether his replacement would be able to keep alive the pipeline Smith established between Indiana and the West Coast remains to be seen.

From his coaching tree in the region, Indiana appears to have a solid list of candidates to replace Smith, including Cincinnati coach Ty Neal and Xavier coach Scott Googins.

Former IU star Kyle Schwarber, who is playing for the Kane County Cougars in Geneva, Ill., was not surprised to hear about Smith's decision.

"I thought it could have been a possibility. But that's good for him," said Schwarber, picked fourth overall in the June draft by the Cubs. "He did a great job at Indiana. Indiana's going to have some future success down the road, too. I can't thank coach Smith enough for being my coach for the time he was. It's good that he's moving up in the next step in his career."

Smith is married and has three sons, one on the Indiana football team.